I anticipate that most black Americans will believe that an Obama defeat will have stemmed in substantial part from a prejudice that robbed 40 million Americans of the chance to become president on the day they were born black . . . This conclusion will be accompanied by bitter disappointment, and in some quarters, stark rage.

So much for appealing to people's greatest hopes.

I feel for Mr. Kennedy. His closing paragraphs are both touching and sad. He seems resigned to the fact that Obama will lose and that, in losing, will prove to many a symbol of failure for blacks in America.

I feel sorry for him and for other blacks who will be devastated by Obama's loss: not because they "deserve" a black President--no one deserves an identification President. But because the first African-American to win his party's nomination was unquestionably the wrong guy. Obama is weak and flawed. He was rushed into the position, and he wasn't ready.

I wish I could say that I understand how Kennedy feels. I can't, of course. I'm white and Irish and Catholic. But there will be a black President, and he or she will be the right one. Providence has a way of visiting upon America the leader we need at just the right moment. The 90s were perfect for Clinton--nothing to do but steer the ship. The 80s perfect for Reagan--a Cold War needed to end and our self-esteem needed a boost. Carter allowed Reagan to win. Bush 43 had the cold anger to push Islamofascist terrorism to the brink of extinction. Roosevelt reassured Americans and might have prevented all-out communism from taking hold in America.

I hope there isn't a race war on November 5. But I won't vote Democrat just because it's threatened. Nor would I vote Democrat out of guilt or to make Kennedy feel better about himself. That's like letting someone win a game of one-on-one. No one deserves that kind of insult.